Alla Chavarga, Ph.D.

Visual Neuroscience & Psychophysics

I'm a Vision Scientist

Alla Chavarga, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor & Research Coordinator
Doctor of Physical Therapy Program
Touro University School of Health Sciences
3 Times Square
202 West 43rd Street
New York, NY 10036

I’m currently Assistant Professor and Research Coordinator in the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program at Touro University's School of Health Sciences. I have spent almost fifteen years as a Visual Neuroscience and Psychophysics researcher, and more than ten of those years as an instructor of Research Methods and Statistics.

I received my Ph.D. in Cognition, Brain, and Behavior at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York. My primary research focus was the contribution of low spatial frequency information to rapid object recognition, and enhancement of visual sensitivity to these spatial frequencies using temporal modulation. I continue to do research in visual psychophysics, as well as research pedagogy.

In addition to my own research, I have collaborated with faculty from Physical Therapy, Clinical Psychology, Chemistry, Communications, Speech Pathology, and Education as a statistician and research coodinator. In my role as coordinator of programs for the Center for Achievement in Science Education (CASE), I advised research-interested students across the disciplines in the natural and behavioral sciences, and developed a wide variety of professional development and academic workshops. Holistic student mentoring and workforce development is an integral part of what I consider my personal mission as an effective researcher and educator.

Courses Taught

  • DPTN605: Introduction to Research

    DPTN615: Research Project

    DPTN655: Data Synthesis

    DPTN665: Research Seminar

    These courses constitute the research sequence of the Touro University School of Health Sciences' Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) Program. Students enrolled in this sequence are trained in research methods and statistics, followed by a two-course sequence accompanying the design and execution of a research project led my a faculty mentor. Students collect, analyze, and synthesize data to produce a written research report, research poster, and platform presentation during the program's annual research forum.

  • CEP-311RA: Public Health I

    This course is offered in the summer semester of the third year student curriculum at the State University of New York School of Optometry. Lectures covered research design and measures of disease frequency and association in epidemiology with a focus on clinical vision research.

  • CEP-304RA: Epidemiology

    This course is offered in the summer semester of the third year student curriculum at the State University of New York School of Optometry. Lectures were provided on two main topics: Cross-sectional and Ecological Research Design and Randomized-Controlled Trials in Vision Research. This course served as an introduction to research methods in epidemiology with a focus on general vision- and optometric-evaluation-related research.

  • PSYC1000: Introduction to Psychology

    PSYC3400: Statistical Methods in the Behavioral Sciences

    PSYC3450: Experimental Psychology

    PSYC3520: Perception

    Introduction to Psychology, Statistical Methods, and Experimental Psychology are required courses in the Psychology major at Brooklyn College. Perception is an advanced elective course designed to introduce the history and methodology of psychophysics, as well as the physiological and neurological underpinnings of the visual and auditory systems.

  • U7703G: Design of Psychological Research

    U7706G: Statistical Methods I

    U7106G: Research and Program Evaluation Methods in Applied Psychology

    These graduate-level courses at Brooklyn College were core requirements for the Master's Degree program in Experimental Psychology (U7703G & U7706G) and Industrial-Organizational Psychology (U7106G). For students in the Experimental Psychology program, these courses surveyed research methodology and statistical methods for psychological research aimed at supporting Master's thesis projects and preparing students for application to doctoral-level research training. In I/O Psychology, Research and Program Evaluation Methods provided students with research literacy training as well as practice designing research investigations from the perspectives of consultants in workforce development.

  • NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates: Statistics & Research Methods Didactic Seminar

    This research methods and statistics didactic seminar was designed to accompany undergraduate psychology and neuroscience students' faculty-mentored research projects. A 12-student cohort is selected each Spring to conduct research and prepare a scientific poster for presentation at Brooklyn College's Annual Science Research Day and other external scientific conferences.

Current Research


ViBE: Vision & Balance Education Initiative
Dr. Alla Chavarga, an expert in visual psychophysics and neuroscience, and Leah Verebes, a geriatric certified specialist at the Touro University School of Health Sciences are partnering with local community centers and physical therapy providers to develop a research and community education program to offer vision and balance screenings to underserved geriatric populations in New York City. As part of this initiative, participating institutions receive educational seminars aimed at teaching best practices in fall prevention, vision preservation, and home modifications to promote safety and reduce fall risk due to poor balance or impaired visual sensitivity. Students from the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program will join these efforts and participate in community engagement through balance and vision screening, and creation of accessible educational materials for distribution to PT clinics and community residents. Partners include the Educational Alliance Naturally Occurring Retirement Community and ProHealth Physical Therapy.

Spatio-temporal Contrast Sensitivity and Object Recognition
The major function of the human visual system is to effectively identify objects and scenes. Research has shown that this process is largely top-down in nature, with initial processing at the level of the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) and primary visual cortex (V1) triggering a cascade of activations in higher-order memory, language, and form-detecting brain areas. Certain spatial components of an image, namely coarse low spatial frequencies (LSFs) may be prioritized in the identification process. We use counterphase flicker to selectively enhance sensitivity to LSFs in images of everyday objects and scenes to assess recognition ability. This intervention may improve object recognition in vision compromised by disease, age, or environmental conditions.

Describing Color Appearance: Hue Scaling and the Uniform Appearance Diagram
A wide variety of standard spaces have been developed to describe color appearance, all of which relate wavelengths to the three-parameter physiological specification corresponding to the three retinal cone-types, S, M, and L. However, sensory experience of color can be directly magnitude-estimated using hue and saturation scaling, a comprehensive but effective method for describing what a stimulus looks like. We transform this data onto a non-Euclidean two-dimensional color appearance space that is capable of generating accurate predictions of behavioral color discrimination (delta lambda), as well as changes in color sensation due to simultaneous contrast.

Contrast Sensitivity in Special Populations
As part of a comprehesive battery of visual tests, we evaluate basic visual function (acuity, color vision, stereopsis, and contrast sensitivity) in an array of unique subpopulations with visual systems or functioning that is characteristically divergent from the normal population. These groups include children, individuals advanced in age, individuals with Down Syndrome, Schizophrenia, visual artists, and those with some form of color blindness or anomaly.


Applied Vision Research Group



Other Research Projects

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Publications

Chavarga, A., Ergun, T.S., Brittenham, C., Gordon, J. & Abramov, I. (2022). Colors: Chromaticity and Appearance Diagrams. Color Research and Application, (Manuscript in press)

Ergun, T.S., Chavarga, A., Brittenham, C., Gordon, J., & Abramov, I. (2022). Skin and Eye Color: Biology, Psychology, Sex. (Manuscript in preparation)

Hadjisolomou, S.P., El-Haddad, R.W., Kloskowski, K., Chavarga, A., & Abramov, I. (2021). Quantifying the speed of chromatophore activity at the single-organ level in response to a visual startle stimulus in living, intact squid. Frontiers in Physiology, 12: 675252.

Chavarga, A. (2019). Recognition by flickering components: The effect of temporal modulation on image recognition. CUNY Academic Works. https://academicworks.cuny.edu/gc_etds/3043

Crump, M. J. C., Krishnan, A., Volz, S., & Chavarga, A. (2019). Answering Questions with Data: The Lab Manual for R, Excel, SPSS and Jamovi. https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/M2NPJ

Rosales, E., Chavarga, A., Grandoit, E., Mayer, S., Hackman, N., Elbulok-Charcape, M., Domzalski, A. C., & Horowitz, G. (2019). An exam wrapper intervention in organic chemistry I: Impact on course performance & study behavior. Journal of College Science Teaching, 49, 53-61.

Abramov, I., Gordon, J., Feldman, O. and Chavarga, A. Sex & vision I: Spatio-temporal resolution. Biology of Sex Differences, 3, 20 (2012).

Abramov, I., Gordon, J., Feldman, O. and Chavarga, A. Sex and vision II: color appearance of monochromatic lights. Biology of Sex Differences, 3, 21 (2012).




Presentations

Chavarga, A. & Hainline, L. (2019, May 16). Bye-Bye, Scantron: Smart Apps for Smart Faculty [Conference Workshop]. Brooklyn College Faculty Day, Brooklyn, NY, USA.

Hainline, H. & Chavarga, A. (2018, December 5). Introducing Peer-Assisted Team Research (PATR) [Meeting of Undergraduate Research Directors]. CUNY Central Offices, New York, NY, USA.

Geller, D., Park, G., Chavarga, A., Nelson, N. & Munoz, J.P. (2016, March 9). Planning for and Taking Action - The Equitable Classroom: Using Quantitative Reasoning and Group Work to Promote Student Engagement [Conference Presentation]. Cue Conference at Hostos College, The Bronx, NY, USA.

Chavarga, A., Young, B. & Nelson, N. (2016, May 8). Innovative Approaches to Integrating Quantitative Literacy across the Curriculum [Conference Presenation]. CUE Conference at City College of CUNY, New York, NY, USA.

Chavarga, A., Young, B., & Nelson, N. (2014, October 24). I’m Not a Math Person: Activities for Quantitative Reasoning Across the Curriculum [Conference Presentation]. Pedagogy Day at The Graduate Center of CUNY, New York, NY, USA.

Young, B., Chavarga, A. & Elizalde-Utnick, G. (2014, May 2). I’m Not a Math Person: Making Quantitative Reasoning Accessible, Applicable, and Relevant to Students in the Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences [Conference Presentation]. Cue Conference at Laguardia Community College, Queens, NY, USA.

Chavarga, A. & Young, B. (2014, April 25). I’m Not a Math Person: Making Quantitative Reasoning Accessible, Applicable, and Relevant to Students in the Humanities, Arts, and Social Sciences [Conference Presentation]. CORE Conference at Brooklyn College, Brooklyn, NY, USA.




Posters

Vulakh, G., Miles, R. & Chavarga, A. (2022). LGBTQ+ Identity and Religious Disaffiliation from Orthodox Judaism [Poster presentation]. Presented at Brooklyn College Science Research Day, Brooklyn, NY, USA.

Miles, R., Chavarga, A., Keller, Y., Hirsch, E., & Eisen, P. (2022, April 7-9). Religious Disaffiliation from Orthodox Judaism: Social, psychological, and intellectual factors [Poster presentation]. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association, Salt Lake City, UT, USA.

Miles, R., Chavarga, A., Chabot, S., Eisen, P., Hirsch, E., & Keller, Y. (2021, November 5-6) Factors Associated with Religious Disaffiliation from Orthodox Judaism: Comparisons between an Empirical Study and Community Perspectives, Presented at the New England Psychological Association Conference, Virtual.

Hadjisolomou, S.P., Kloskowski, K., Chavarga, A., El-Haddad, R. & Abramov, I. (2019, October 19-23). Timing Rapid Body Patterning in Cephalopods [Poster presentation]. Presentd at the Society for Neuroscience, Chicago, IL, USA.

Garrett, J., Chavarga, A.,Bergdoll, R., Miles, R., & Rabin, L. (2019, May). Mental health literacy among diverse undergraduate students: Impact of academic factors [Poster presentation]. Presented at Brooklyn College Annual Science Research Day, Brooklyn, NY, USA.

Thomas, S., Chavarga, A. Krishnan A., Miles, R., Bergdoll, R., & Rabin, L. (2019, May 3). Knowledge of campus counseling center location in relation to mental health help-seeking orientation among diverse undergraduate students [Poster presentation]. Presented at the Brooklyn College Annual Science Research Day, Brooklyn, NY.

Drake, J. E., Bergdoll, R., Chavarga, A., Forlano, P., & Rabin. L. (2018, November). Engaging middle and high school science teachers in a mentored research and professional development experience [Poster presentation]. Presented at the annual meeting of the Northeast Conference for Teachers of Psychology, Worcester, MA, USA.

Lakshin, A., Chavarga, A., Degtyarev, Z., Kloskowski, K., Ergun, T.S., Fitzgerald, T. & Abramov, I. (2017, May 5). Warriors of the Left Hand: A Bias in Drawing [Poster presentation]. Presented at Brooklyn College Science Research Day, Brooklyn, NY, USA.

Ergun, T.S., Chavarga, A., Chi, D., Hadjisolomou, S.P., Kloskowski K. & Abramov, I. (2016, May 1). Eye Color--the New Phrenology [Poster presentation]. Presented at Brooklyn College Science Research Day, Brooklyn, NY, USA.

Chi, D., Chavarga, A., Ergun, T.S., Hadjisolomou, S.P., Kloskowski K. & Abramov, I. (2016, May 1). Color Vision, Spatial Resolution, & Sex [Poster presentation]. Presented at Brooklyn College Science Research Day, Brooklyn, NY, USA.

Hadjisolomou, S.P., Chavarga, A. & Abramov, I. (2013, November 9-13). Behavioral responses to pulses of light in the Longfin Inshore Squid, Doryteuthis pealeii [Poster presentation]. Presented at the Society for Neuroscience, San Diego, CA.

Hadjisolomou, S.P. and Chavarga, A. (2013, ). Behavioral responses to pulses of light in the Longfin Inshore Squid, Doryteuthis pealeii [Poster presentation]. Presented at the 2nd Annual CUNY Animal Behavior Initiative, Hunter College, New York, NY, USA.

Beebe, B., Margolis, A., Hane, A.A., Markese, S., Jaffe, J., Chavarga, A., et al. (2010, March). Infant self-contingency (auto-correlation) as a component of emotion regulation [Poster presentation]. Presented at the biennial meeting of the International Society in Infant Studies, Baltimore, MD, USA.

Beebe, B., Parashar, N., Chavarga, A., Reuben, J., Margolis, A., Hane, A. A., et al. (2010, March). Gaze and touch, with partner and object, as 4-month joint attention precursors: Maternal depression and disorganized attachment [Poster presentation]. Presented at the biennial meeting of the International Society in Infant Studies, Baltimore, MD, USA.

Beebe, B., Steele, M. Markese, S., Chavarga, A., Jaffe, J., Margolis, A., Malitzky, M., Chen, H., Cohen, P., Feldstein, S. (2010, March). Maternal Anxiety and Mother-Infant Communication [Poster presentation]. Presented at the Anxiety Disorders Association of America Annual Conference: Anxiety Across the Lifespan: Practical Integration of Basic and Clinical Approaches. Baltimore, MD, USA.

Other Projects

Coordinator of the Center for Achievement in Science Education (CASE): Brooklyn College
The family of programs known as CASE includes nationally sponsored programs such as Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC), and Collegiate Science and Technology Entry Program (CSTEP). In 2021, CASE received the Inspiring Programs in STEM Award from INSIGHT Into Diversity magazine, the largest and oldest diversity and inclusion publication in higher education.


Maximizing Access to Research Careers (MARC) Program: Methods & Scientific Programming Module Series
Developer of video module series to introduce research methods alongside Python programming for STEM undergraduates. Organized brief video introductions by Black, Latina, and Indigenous Women of Color describing their careers in science and introducing real datasets for corresponding coding activities. Research Design & Scientific Programming Module Series


National Institutes of Health Office of Intramural Training & Education: Resilience Training Program
Trained as a facilitator/advisor to develop and run student group discussions about wellness, resilience, and mental health challenges in the sciences. Co-faciliatated a discussion group with Master's, Ph.D., and M.D./Ph.D. graduate students at Tufts University. Adapted content for an undergraduate-level workshop series to be used in a summer bridge program.



Peer-Assisted Team Research (PATR): First-year STEM Research Experiences
Designed research modules across a variety of science topics for an early authentic research experience for low-division students. Led instruction to guide students on how to read scientific journal articles, design their own experiments, collect data, run analyses, and present their findings. Evaluated program performance, indicating that the PATR experience increased student self-efficacy, interest, and future engagement in scientific research. Trained junior and senior-level undergraduate peer leaders to lead their own PATR groups during the academic year and summer/winter semesters.


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